Violence for Kicks (1976)

Violence for Kicks Film Details

Overview: A gang of young and ruthless bikers terrorizes the streets of Rome for no other reason than kicks and to kill their copious amounts of spare time.

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Review: The dubbing of foreign films is already a giant crime against the nature of cinema to itself, but some people should actually be put in jail for the atrocious dubbing jobs they pulled off! The voices & synchronism featuring in “Violence for Kicks” are truly horrible and make it really difficult to even properly watch the film at certain points. As banal as it may sound, the voices often misfit the characters so badly you’ll have trouble focusing on what they are saying, because you’re too irritated. If the film ever receives a proper & fancy DVD release (fat chance that’ll ever happen, though), I sincerely hope the original language print can be restored with optional subtitles in English. That being said, I also must admit being surprised at the extreme obscurity status of this film. It may not be the greatest Italian crime-thriller of the 70’s but it’s undeniably great entertainment, stuffed with sadistically violent images and long gratuitous scenes of sleaze and full frontal female nudity. If that doesn’t appeal to avid Euro-cult cinema fanatics, then I don’t know what else does! The two most encountered titles “Violence for Kicks” and “Terror in Rome” also immediately summarize the full story. A gang of young & ruthless bikers terrorizes the streets of Rome for no other reason than kicks and to kill their copious amounts of spare time. They purposelessly gang-rape random girls, beat up pedestrians, deal hard drugs, organize illegal street races, menace witnesses, murder city employees and commit violent heists even though they don’t need any money as they’re all the offspring of rich & eminent citizens. The tough police inspector De Gregori (Antonio Sabato) rapidly becomes very frustrated because each time he arrests the arrogant gang leader Stefano, his daddy’s attorneys arrange a release warrant the exact same day. But when the gang’s aggressions gradually become viler and De Gregori’s own wife becomes the target of an assault, he decides to enforce the law slightly more drastic. “Violence for Kicks” is extremely incoherent and the events actually just jump swiftly from one nasty sequence to the next, but the pacing is fast and the script doesn’t allow you to bother about the several improbabilities. There are no character studies or moralistic speeches to suffer through here; just plain old action and excitement. The violence is truly nihilistic and “Grindhouse”-like here, including extended shots of burning corpses and executed children. In spite of all the nastiness, there’s even a bit of room for comic relief, namely in the persona of Insp. De Gregori’s dimwit assistant. During an interrogation, the arrogant Stefano refers to a theory of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Afterwards the assistant subtly turns to De Gregori and asks him: “I do understand everything and all, but … what does this guy Nietzsche has to do with the whole case?” Too funny! Coriolani Gori provides a stimulating score and cameraman Sergio Martinelli masterfully choreographs the multiple car chases and motorcycle races. “Violence for Kicks” certainly doesn’t play in the same league as, say, “Almost Human”, “Manhunt”, “Violent Naples” “Street Law” and “Rome Armed to the Teeth”, but it’s really worth hunting down.

Country: Italy

Language: Italian

Duration: 88 min

Genre: Action

Also known as: De våldsamma gängen,Terror in Rome,I violenti di Roma bene,Tromos sti Romi,Väkivallan enkelit,Motosykletistes pou apsifousan ton thanato,Violence for Kicks,Den Voldsomme gjengen,Kadun soturit,La nuit des excitées,Terror in Roma